Frings confirms Bremen exit by joining Toronto

Former German international Torsten Frings has called time on his 11-year association with SV Werder Bremen after joining Major League Soccer outfit Toronto FC.

The midfielder, 34, has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the Canadian side, apparently bringing down the curtain on a 402-match Bundesliga career. "I had offers from Europe, America and the Middle East," he wrote on his website. "A few Bundesliga clubs offered me a contract as well and while some were interesting and financially more profitable, the challenge of playing in North America excited me most."

After starting out at Alemannia Aachen, Frings played for FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund but will forever be associated with two spells at Bremen, initially from 1997 to 2002. He returned in 2005, finishing as a runner-up in the Bundesliga and the UEFA Cup before picking up a second German Cup winners' medal in 2009, a decade after his first.

That year also brought the last of the 79 national-team caps won by Frings, who was part of the Germany side that reached the 2006 FIFA World Cup semi-finals and UEFA EURO 2008 final. His former Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann now works as a consultant at Toronto where Frings, whose Bremen contract expired at the end of last season, could make his debut as early as 21 July against FC Dallas.